Diary of a Wimpy Ninja
By - AhriRose
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize.
Naruto & Naruto Shippuden © Masashi Kishimoto
Notes: Thank you to everyone that has reviewed, favorited, and followed.
. . .
The weeks flew by and before I knew it, the dreadful course of murder was upon us.
"Now class, I expect you to make this as quick and painless for them as possible," Iruka-sensei instructed us through the motions of holding the rabbits, before slicing their throats.
We all knew basic anatomy. Not enough to be medic-nins, but enough to be efficient killers.
Some of the girl's squealed. Two refused to partake, and were given the option to flunk out of the academy and attend the civilian equivalent, which they accepted.
Uzumaki, Sakura, and Hinata all hesitated; Iruka-sensei noted this.
Surprisingly I didn't hesitate. Before he gave the order I voided myself. I emptied my emotions into a filing cabinet within my mind, and when he spoke the words; I completed my 'mission'.
That night I sobbed into my pillow, and woke at least three times due to nightmares. I dreamt of myself being ordered to harm Sakura, then Shino, and finally Kiba. After the last I decided to wake exceptionally early and head to the training grounds. My mother had recently become a jonin, and as such was currently away on a mission. My father was away as well. I only knew they had both been given A-ranks, but I had no idea how long they'd be gone.
Sometimes I toyed with the idea of them never returning. These intrusive thoughts always invaded my mind when I didn't get adequate sleep.
A loud noise alerted me to the fact that there was someone also training at this odd hour.
Debating internally with myself, I finally conceded on being nosey; mostly due to my loneliness.
What I saw made my breath hitch. There was a young boy, probably around my age or slightly older, beating a tree trunk into oblivion. I could tell this was a common occurrence due to the tree trunk's overall appearance as well as the old scarring around his hands.
He suddenly stopped and turned.
I took in his appearance; bushy brows, long black braided hair, and an incredibly simple outfit. It led me to believe that he, like Uzumaki, was an orphan.
Orphans were in no short supply, which I had learned within my second year at the academy. A lot of the civilian children were orphans hoping to make something of themselves with little to no other options.
"Uh…" My face heated up with embarrassment, "Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt, I just didn't know anyone else was training this early."
He gave me a cheery smile, "Do not worry! I was only curious as to who was watching me!"
An idea flew into my head and I decided there was no harm voicing it, "Hey! Uh…?" He didn't get my hint, so I explained, "What's your name?"
"OH! Rock Lee!"
I nodded, confirming the name and face to my memory, "I'm Ikeda Shiori, it's nice to meet you. I was wondering if you'd like to spar?"
"It is wonderful to meet someone that shares my enthusiasm for training," He gave me a small smile, "I will spar with you, but I must confess I am…not the best."
I shrugged his honesty off, "It's okay. You can only get better with practice, right?"
Lee and I formed a steady friendship after that first spar. It was quick, and I had realized too late that he actually wasn't using any chakra. Most children unconsciously used it to gain speed, but once you were taught chakra control you tended to slowly add a bit more during spars.
I won, but Lee was determined that he would continue to spar with me until he could beat me. I agreed to meet him everyday at this hour so we could train together. It was nice to have the loneliness lift away a little.
. . .
Before I realized it, the sixth month had passed and my dad was more than ready to begin 'phase two' of my training.
We found ourselves at a reclusive training area, far from anyone else.
"Now we'll work on you slowly releasing the chakra around the lower ribbons, and then applying carefully weighted amounts to allow for controlled movement."
It sounded easy enough, but in practice it was significantly harder.
Every evening when my father was home, he forbade me from training alone, he would help me work on gaining the proper control.
Once another six months had passed I was finally able to control them properly.
Next came the phase of applying significant amounts of chakra to make them particularly deadly. I was instructed with training logs, and was asked to grasp them, and then cut them. The catch was, I had to cut them on the dotted line my father had created.
It was tiring, and I more than once managed to slice my arm. Nothing too deep, but it was still a nuisance. It made me wonder if this was the reason the ribbons were red.
Finally fifth year came, and I was ecstatic. Not only was I progressing quickly with the Ikeda technique, but we were also using proper kunai, which meant I was finally able to carry senbon in my pack. As well as proper sharpened kunai in my thigh holster.
My mom also promised to get some chakra paper to test my affinity. I was hoping to be either earth or fire seeing as those were my parent's affinities.
I honestly didn't see much of my mother anymore. I think all those years cooped up in the house with me took a toll. She was a true kunoichi at heart. She was always longing to get back into the field.
I was still training early in the mornings with Lee, who had improved vastly from the first time we had met slash sparred. It was a rarity that I beat him with pure taijutsu. Even more rare when I beat him while using jutsu (he begged me to make the playing ground even).
Sakura and I met twice a week in the afternoons and sometimes went for lunch or shopping on the weekends. She was always bugging me to add a little color to my wardrobe, besides my crimson ribbons, which she claimed didn't count.
Kiba and Shino were still my closest friends though we rarely seen each other outside of the academy. I always sat with them in class, and at lunch. Though sometimes I sat with Sakura when she wasn't being a complete space case about oogling Uchiha.
"Are you two excited that we only have one more year to go?" I was practically jumping in my seat with excitement.
"Calm it down, you're acting like Naruto-baka."
I flinched at the comparison, but I couldn't erase my smile, "Come on… don't act like you aren't at least a little bit ready to get a team and go on actual missions." I was honestly more excited on the prospect of making more lasting friendships, or even better; being on a team with my best friends.
Kiba groaned, "Yeah, I'm excited, but I'm also irritated that we still have a year of this to go."
"I am also ready to be done with the academy," Shino spoke out.
When I got home that day my mother was there with the chakra paper she promised, "I'm really crossing my fingers that you're an Earth-type like me." I inwardly groaned. While that would be useful, it wouldn't be applicable to the ribbons.
Father explained that certain affinities can be used on the ribbons, to give them even more depth, and (in his words) pizazz.
I held the paper in my hand and concentrated on seeping a small amount onto the paper, instantly it caught alight and became ash. My mom sighed, but I was more than happy. My father was a fire type, and he had showed me how useful it was to combine fire jutsu to the ribbons.
The prospects in battle would be amazing.
Honestly, I had seen my scores and I was beyond average. I didn't shine anywhere, except chakra control and the family technique. I was slightly above when it came to taijutsu and throwing senbon. Ninjutsu and kenjutsu were both average on the dot. My genjutsu could use a lot of work. I was apparently too imaginative for the illusion to be believable.
I was still usually paired against Shino on sparring days, but we were now winning fifty fifty.
Bullseyes every time it came to throwing, and I made a passable clone, but I could only do two. I could control my chakra well, but I didn't have that large of reserves. I was working on it, but there wasn't much I could do except wait to get older.
. . .
Entering my final year in the academy was bittersweet.
It meant we were all soon to become adults in the world of shinobi, able to take missions with our squad and kill people.
Nightmares were still aplenty for me, and it seemed I had permanent 'bags'. I just hoped they'd stop after my first human kill, though a large part of me realized that was wishful thinking.
Squads consisted of three genin, usually two boys and one girl, and a jonin instructor.
I had come to terms with the reality that it was unlikely for me to be placed on a team with Kiba and Shino, mostly because they were trackers. I wasn't anywhere near being a tracker-nin, so I assumed they'd place someone with a similar skillset onto their team. It still made me sad though.
We only saw each other at school, and it would only decrease once we graduated.
Lee had graduated last year, and I rarely saw him. He was busy training with his new sensei and team mates. I hadn't even met any of them, though I had noticed Lee's drastic wardrobe and hairstyle change.
Thankfully I was still friends with Sakura, though it seemed I had unknowingly traded Hinata for her as I hadn't spoken to Hinata in years.
Once again I was back at square one with three friends.
My father was teaching me some interesting fire-ninjutsu to add into my jutsu arsenal. I only knew three D-ranks though, with one C-rank. I begged for another, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. I could only hope my jonin sensei would teach me another.
Something else interesting happened right before my graduation exam.
"I'm pregnant," My mother beamed at me from across the table the morning of my exam. I just about spit out my miso soup.
Dad wasn't due to be back in the village for at least a few more days, "Does Dad know?" She shook her head with a giggle, "No, but won't he be surprised!?"
"I know you said I wasn't planned, but seriously," I raised my brow, "You're pregnant again after another twelve year period?" Most people liked to keep their children close in age with a two to maybe six year gap, but not my parents.
She gave me a sheepish grin, "I guess twelve is our lucky number!"
"How far along are you?" I hadn't noticed, but she did seem to have a rounder belly now that her chuunin vest was off.
"Roughly twenty-two weeks."
My heart nearly stopped, "but you've been taking missions!"
"I've only been taking B-ranks, nothing too dangerous," She said it so casually that I suddenly felt stupid for not having faith in her.
"I'll be on light duty, mainly paperwork," She sighed, "Which is unfortunate, because I really wanted to have my own genin team." I frowned at the thought of her being my jonin instructor. I thought she was brutal during training, efficient, but brutal.
. . .
Everyone but Uzumaki Naruto graduated.
He was sitting on the swing that may as well of had his name engraved on it with how often he sat on it. It made me feel a ping of guilt. During my entire time in the academy I had never once attempted to have a conversation with him.
I was told to stay away from him, and I did. I never questioned it.
With a sigh I averted my gaze, making my way toward my mother. She had the largest grin on, "I knew you'd pass!" I wore my forehead protector proud, on my forehead. I had seen others put them elsewhere, Sakura had used hers as a headband, but I was partial to the classic look.
To celebrate my mom had cooked one of my favorite meals, chicken yakitori and rice, with dango for dessert. It was a quiet affair, and when we finished and cleaned up I hopped in the shower before calling it an early night. I was meeting my new team tomorrow morning, so I wanted to be as well rested as possible.
. . .
It seemed luck was on my side, as I had no nightmares last night.
I decided to forego my stretches for just today and settled on making a simple breakfast for my mother and I, "Make sure you tell me all about your team!" I promised as I began cleaning the dishes.
"I have a doctor's appointment," My mom started, "I get to find out if we'll be having another girl or another boy." Her face was sullen at the word 'boy', and I didn't know why until she had left the room.
I had never met Yuudai officially. He left when I was so young, and even then I had no memories of him. He was always away on missions or training, and even when he was home it was like he wasn't. We never ate together, and we had never spoken.
Most the time I thought of myself as an only child. I don't even think Kiba or Shino knew I had an older brother.
I'll be a much better older sibling, I mentally promised.
. . .
When I made it into the classroom I had learned in for most of my life I was greeted with a surprise; Uzumaki Naruto had a forehead protector on. He had somehow graduated.
My mouth lifted upwards at his accomplishment.
"How'd the dead last get a forehead protector," Kiba mumbled as I sat down. It was a rhetorical question, but I still answered, "He must've done something to earn it." Kiba side-eyed me with a look that conveyed a sarcastic 'sure he did'.
"Good morning everyone," Iruka-sensei smiled up to us, "I'm very proud of all of you. You all made it to genin, but don't get overconfident. This is just the beginning of your career."
Nearly everyone had grins, minus the usual suspects; Hinata with her timid smile, Uchiha Sasuke with his stoic blankness, and Shino who's mouth was covered. We had all worked so hard to get to this day. We were finally genin and about to be assigned a team.
"Team one will be Akemi Izu, Fukui Mayu, and Fukui Mio." I felt a tinge of shock as I watched the twins give each other a quick side hug. It was unheard of for two females to be placed on a genin team.
"Team two," Iruka-sensei drawled, "Ichiza Nobu, Ikeda Shiori, and Tanaka Hiro." I felt my heart sink at hearing my name. I was placed with two civilian boys who never really seemed to take being a ninja seriously.
As Iruka-sensei continued down the list I took special notice to my friends' teams. Kiba and Shino had been placed together, with none other than Hyuuga Hinata. I felt a wave of jealousy toward her. Kiba would surely be ecstatic to have her on their team.
Sakura was placed with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, which was interesting considering one boy she hated and the other she loved.
The only other team I made note of was Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choj; although it was somewhat expected with the tradition of Ino-Shika-Cho.
It was then that I realized everyone was departing for lunch.
"Shiori," I bristled at the lack of honorific, "Let's go eat lunch together!" Hiro was already pulling my arm, and thus me, toward the door. I barely snuck a glance behind me to my best friends who were making their way over to Hinata. Another pang of jealousy stabbed my heart, I should've been on their team.
Hiro and Nobu chatted without pause throughout lunch, both uncaring that I was silent. I knew this day would come, being separated from my best friends, but it hurt nonetheless.
It was just another reminder that I was alone.
"So what's your family technique? Do you have a kekkei genkai? What kind of missions do your parents go on?" Hiro was nonstop.
"I… uh…"
The bell was my saving grace.
"Aw," Hiro whined, "I guess we'll finish our conversation later!"
Once we reached the classroom, Hiro pulled me into the seat beside him, Nobu choosing to sit on the other side of Hiro. I turned my head, feeling a painful twinge in my chest, when my eyes locked on Shino and Kiba.
They sat in our regular spot, with Hinata occupying my middle seat.
Kiba was animatedly chatting in her direction, her head bobbing up and down every so often. I raised my hand to wave, but the only one that returned it was Shino, who nodded in response.
Realistically I knew this held no deeper meaning then Kiba crushing on Hinata, and him just being excited to be on a team with her.
That didn't stop the stab I felt in my chest from happening.
It didn't matter how much I knew our friendship meant. How loyal I knew he was. All the seemed to matter was the voice in my head repeating, he's moved on, he doesn't need you.
"Okay class," Iruka-sensei was the only saving grace from my downward spiral.
"Your sensei's are ready for you, so just come up when I call your squad number!"
Butterflies filled my stomach as my eyes settled on the adults with chunin vests standing just outside the classroom doors.
Team one left without their sensei even uttering a single syllable.
"Team two," Iruka-sensei called out.
Haru and Nobu stood instantaneously. I staggered behind them, nerves strung high in anticipation of meeting our sensei.
A spindly man crossed the threshold, a permanent grimace seemed to be stuck on his face, making him seem like he was in pain just being here. Oh joy, he's as excited to be on this team as I am.
"I'm Ayumu-sensei," he muttered, "let's go to training grounds six."
The level of energy he was giving us was in the negative numbers, effectively putting Haru off. I have known him long enough to tell when he's wrote someone off.
It was an agonizing walk to the training grounds, and I couldn't help but wonder why we were walking and not running. Nobu was respectful, and was visibly biting his tongue to keep from mouthing off. Haru, on the other hand…
"This 'sensei'," he spoke with hands, questioning our teacher's title, "is a total ripoff."
My lips were tightly sealed, willing myself to stay quiet.
"I bet he just became a jonin or something," Haru rolled his eyes, "complete bullshit that we have someone as aloof as him."
I'm surprised you know what that word means. I felt my left eye twitch in irritation. You can't base an opinion of someone's skill on a fifteen second first impression.
"Something bothering you Shiori?"
Nobu was definitely attempting to steer Haru's focus onto something else, or rather, someone else. I wasn't necessarily complaining.
"I-I'm fine. Totally f-fine," I stammered out, "I'm just a little nervous about all this."
They both nodded, as if I had something insightful.
"Well you shouldn't be," Haru shot a grin my way, "We've already passed the hardest part —now we just have to go on missions!"
Nobu bobbed his head in agreement, "Yeah, I wonder when we'll get to go outside the village."
They chatted animatedly about their hopes of leaving the Hidden Leaf for the rest of our fifteen minute walk to the training grounds.
. . .
"Okay," Ayumu-sensei sighed, "Everyone gather under this tree." He shot off the ground and onto a branch, sitting on the edge of it to peer down at us.
We all three sat in a semi-circle, straining our necks to meet our sensei's face.
"I'm Ayumu Ai, yes I know it's normally a name given to girls," He muttered as Hiro and Nobu chuckled, "I enjoy going on missions outside the village and eating barbecue. I hate anything with noodles… it's a texture thing… and I'm aspiring to open a barbecue delivery someday."
Hiro seemed uninterested, seemingly tuning out our sensei. Nobu just seemed confused, but by the way his eyes were scanning our sensei, I was sure he was looking for any hidden meanings.
"Now you go," he pointed to Nobu.
He looked startled at the sudden attention, but began smoothly, "Well, I'm Ichiza Nobu… my parents own a vegetable stand. I like helping them out, and sneaking bean sprouts. I don't really like carrots or broccoli. I want to go on cool missions outside of the village —maybe go to the Land of Waves!"
Bland, I couldn't help but think.
"Tanaka Hiro!" His sudden outburst caused me to flinch, "My parents run the best dango stand in the whole Land of Fire! I love eating dango and training. I hate eating vegetables and fish, and I hate Uzumaki Naruto." That caused a surge of anger to shoot through my veins. After all these years…
"My dream is to be an elite member of the anbu!" All anbu are elite members, and there's no way a blabbermouth like you would be chosen.
I almost rolled my eyes. Almost.
"Lovely," our sensei drawled out before resting his eyes on me, "Go on."
My heart rate increased at the feeling of three pairs of eyes on me.
I hadn't even noticed I was biting my bottom lip until I opened my mouth, "I'm Ikeda Shiori…both of my parents are ninja." I felt my face heat up, "I enjoy spending time with my best friends, Kiba and Shino. I… also enjoy training with my parents. I'm not really a big fan of anything math related, but that's doesn't mean I can't properly calculate trajectories! I just don't really enjoy it!"
My palms began to perspire, causing me to wipe them on my shorts, "I guess my dream, or goal, is to make it to chuunin someday…and meet my cousin."
It was silent for all of two seconds before Hiro started on me, "Why haven't you met your cousin? I have three and I've known them since I was in diapers!"
Nobu chimed in, "I don't even have cousins."
Luckily Ayumu-sensei saved me from answering, "Shut it Tanaka! If she wanted you to know, you'd know. Now… we're meeting here tomorrow… let's say… six-thirty. The sun should just be rising at that point."
He was squinting down to us, sizing us up, "Make sure you have a big breakfast and sleep well tonight; you'll need it."
"Why? Are we going on a cool mission? Should I pack?"
Ayumu-sensei just rolled his eyes, "No Tanaka… you're all taking a final exam. And before you shout at me about already taking one, nope. That was just your exam to be a genin. Now you take the real final exam. An exam to see if you have what it takes. And if you don't? You go back to the academy. Or you can flunk out… join the genin corp… try and get into the medical ninja program." He shrugged his shoulders as he suggested all the options.
We all stood, clearly shocked at this new information.
"Sleep well tonight kiddies," Ayumu-sensei announced as he stood from his branch, and disappeared with a puff of smoke. The Body Flicker technique… I'm definitely begging mom to teach me.
"See you guys tomorrow! Make sure you train, don't want you two getting left behind while I pass, huh?" Hiro shot us a wink before he took off running, presumably home.
"What a punk," Nobu frowned, before stalking off in the opposite direction.
It was going to take a miracle for us to pass our final exam tomorrow.
Worst case scenario I'll just go back to the academy… I'll disappoint dad for sure, but at least I'll get a second chance… unless I fail a second time… then I guess I'll hope to become a medic-nin.